Youth leader who changed lives dies after battle with same type of cancer as McCain

After going to prison at 17 for burglary, former disconnected youth, Felix Moran, 25, of Phoenix, struggled to find employment. He is now joining Opportunities for Youth to do outreach to young people facing challenges like he did.

Tamela Franks, director of Opportunities for Youth, helped young people across Phoenix get jobs and go back to school. She died in October of brain cancer at 48.(Photo11: Franks family)

Even in sickness, Tamela Franks did what she loved best: lift a young person from a disadvantaged background into an opportunity to lead.

In health, the director of the trailblazing Phoenix coalition Opportunities for Youth elevated many more.

Franks — a visionary, fashionista and second mom to young people finding their way — died Oct. 13 after a six-month battle with glioblastoma, the same aggressive brain cancer U.S. Sen. John McCain faces. She was 48.

"She empowered me from day one," said Elora Diaz, 28, who grew up with a teenage mother and a father in prison, and was first in her family to go to college. Diaz started as an intern at Opportunities For Youth and eventually rose to run the organization while Franks was on sick leave.

"I was very grateful for the opportunity to grow, but it was heartbreaking," Diaz said. "I considered her a mentor. I considered her a friend. She was a motherly figure to me. It was hard to see her going through what she was going through."

Diaz adopted a "what would Tamela do" mantra as she sought to keep on track an innovative 100-member coalition of businesses, schools, charities, politicians, government agencies and donors. The group works to connect struggling young people in Maricopa County to jobs and education.

"I would literally ask myself, 'How would Tamela handle this?' " Diaz said, recalling the confidence and positive attitude Franks would bring to every encounter. "I knew Tamela needed someone strong to hold up the fort so she would have something to come back to."

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A phenomenal presence

The number of people ages 16 to 24 not working or going to school in Maricopa County dropped 26 percent in five years to about 74,000 disconnected youth, a study found.

Franks took over Opportunities For Youth the following year, aiming to make an even bigger difference.

Tamela Franks speaks at an event in an undated photo.(Photo11: Franks family)

She was looking for a fresh start with her three kids — somewhere besides her lifelong hometown of St. Louis — after losing her high-school sweetheart. Franks' husband, Ovie Jr., a kindhearted former police officer nicknamed "Teddy," had died of a heart attack at 43.

They had met in his mother's beauty parlor as teenagers and shared July 4 birthdays, said Franks' sister, Heather Carter. "It was love at first sight."

Franks was the obvious choice to lead Opportunities For Youth, said former Maricopa County Schools Superintendent Don Covey, who helped establish the coalition.

"She had a track record that we wanted. She had the vocabulary. She was phenomenal," Covey said.

“She had a track record that we wanted. She had the vocabulary. She was phenomenal.”

Don Covey, former Maricopa County schools superintendent, on Tamela Franks

Franks had worked for years in Missouri at programs for disadvantaged youth, and had a master's degree in social work. She also had corporate experience from her previous career at AT&T, knowledge which she applied at Opportunities for Youth.

Dominic Braham, who led a youth employment program at the Greater Phoenix Urban League at the time, said Franks arrived in Phoenix with fresh ideas.

"She came to Arizona with a whole new mindframe of how to find this population and work with them," he said. "She was in all the spaces. Everybody knew of her."

Franks rallied non-profits that serve youth across the Valley to share resources. She recruited dozens of employers to attend job fairs. She built a contact list of thousands of young people and deployed mass text messages to get them to attend.

" 'Opportunity youth' is really a buzz word now," said Lloyd Hopkins, who counted Franks as a mentor as he founded the Million Dollar Teacher Project. "A lot of that is the byproduct of the work she was doing. Now you can walk into any agency, and they're talking about 'opportunity culture' and 'opportunity youth.' "

'Always seeing more than what I see'

Tamela Franks leaves behind thee children, Ovie III (second from left), Tia and Jordan. Franks' husband, Teddy, died of a heart attack in 2011, a year after this photo was taken.(Photo11: Franks family)

Franks used her organization as a proving ground, choosing interns and employees from the same youth population she hoped others would hire.

"If it wasn't for her, I personally wouldn't be who I am today," Felix Moran, 26, said.

Moran had trouble building a career because of a robbery felony in his youth. Franks helped Moran gain experience and take on leadership roles. He now works for the Arizona Center for Youth Resources, and recently traveled to Washington, D.C., to lobby members of Congress to support young people.

"When I would talk to her, she would always stay positive and encouraging," Moran said. "She was always seeing more than what I see."

When Franks was diagnosed, she was strategizing how to partner young people with white-collar businesses to train for jobs in fields like cybersecurity, instead of low-paying retail, food services and construction positions.

In her personal life, Tamela Franks was dedicated to two things, her family recalls fondly: her Christian faith and fashion, and she showed off stilettos, leopard print, bold colors and chic hairstyles in social-media posts.(Photo11: Franks family)

In her personal life, Franks was dedicated to two things, her family recalls fondly: her Christian faith and fashion.

Kim Owens, whose organization Year Up is a member of Opportunities for Youth, remembers Franks wearing a striking red suit.

"When she came in the room, she had a presence," Owens said. "She was smart. She was deeply connected to her mission. You just knew someone who had the passion and drive she had was going to get things done."

Franks discovered her cancer in March. She had been having headaches and became disoriented in a work meeting. She was rushed to the emergency room.

Now her children — 25-year-old Ovie III ("Trey"), 21-year-old Jordan ("Tyler") and 18-year-old Tia — are figuring out how to cope with both parents gone.

Heather Carter, who joined her sister in moving to Phoenix to be close, said she will look after Franks' kids like her own three children.

"They know their mother can't be replaced, but they definitely have a strong family," Carter, 35, said.

"We're just trying to make sure they’re OK," said Franks' mother, Belinda Carter.

Same mission, new directions

Tamela Franks with program manager Elora Diaz (left) and interns at Opportunities for Youth.(Photo11: Elora Diaz)

Since Franks' death, much has changed at Opportunities for Youth.

Arizona State University took over sponsorship of the program, after Covey lost in the 2016 election for schools superintendent.

Several of the staff have left. Diaz, who moved on to teaching and working for Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, dreams of leading a large organization like a school district.